IIT alumnus Nihar Ranjan Beura filed his nomination papers for the gram panchayat polls.
An IIT alumnus, identified as Nihar Ranjan Beura, has quit his lucrative job to contest the upcoming panchayat poll in his native village of Dumuka in Odisha's Kendrapara district. The 50-year-old pursued his Masters in industrial engineering and management from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur and eventually worked in many multinational companies in the US, Germany, UK and France among others. He has also, now, set up a dairy farm in his village wherein locals can buy pure milk at cheaper rates, according to news agency PTI.
"I filed my nomination papers for member panchayat
samiti from my native Dumuka gram panchayat today. I have earned money and fame," Mr Beura said.
"There is a general perception that people involved in politics to earn money. But I have pledged to prove it wrong," the IIT alumnus added.
Mr Beura said that he was raised by his mother amid much hardship. He further added that he lost his elder brother and father in the 1996 Odisha cyclone.
"When I was well-established and earning a fat salary, I made up my mind to go back to my roots and serve my village," Mr Beura said, to PTI.
Locals have said that Mr Beura has been providing counselling to unemployed youths and job seekers.
"We feel he will serve the village better," said an unemployed youth.
Stating that his purpose of transforming the life of his native villagers, Mr Beura said, "I was born and brought up in Dumuka. Time has come to pay back to my ancestral village. It is everyone's duty to give back to the society which has contributed to one's success."
The 50-year-old also claimed that despite adequate funds from the government, the village has failed to progress.
"If people elect me, I will try my best to facelift the agrarian economy of the gram panchayat," he said.
(with inputs from PTI)